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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Thursday - August 09, 2012

From: Wickenburg, AZ
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a plant which has fern like leaves on the top and round broad leaves near the ground. What is it?

ANSWER:

Sorry, but your brief description doesn't bring any native Arizona plant to mind.  A little more information would have been useful.  For instance, what is its size and is its origin (did you buy it or did it suddenly come up in a flower bed), is it woody or herbaceous, etc.  Your best bet for identifying it is to take a photo or two and then visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plants for identification.

 

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